Attachment of doll limb to doll body



nited States Patent f" 2,86'5'113'4 ATTACHMENT OF DOLL LIMB TQ DOLL BODY David Cohn, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Model Plastic Corporation, White Plains, N. Y., a corporation of' New York Application February 2, 1955, Serial No. 485,794 6 Claims. (Cl. 46-473) Today the manufacture of dolls from soft and fiexible materials such as vinyl resins is in Vogue, largely because of the ea'se with which such materials may be molded to shape and because of the life-like feel which they impart to the finished doll. The desired attributes of feel derive fromv the fact that the material is soft and fiexible, but` that same characteristic of the material presents problems insofar as the attachment of limbs to the body is concerned. As a practical matter, the limbs, as' well as the head, must be molded separately from the 'body and then subsequently secured thereto. The' attachment-of limb to body must not present any appreciable assembly dfficulty, and it must at the same time be sufliciently secure so that the doll will withstand those extreme elforts at dismemberment which must be expected from' theV youthful users thereof. In addition, thei manner in' which the: limb is attached to the body must permits' realisticlarticulation' of thel limbs withV respect toxthe body,l so that' the'dolll may be placed in different postures inaccordance' with' the' desires ofits user.

According to the present invention all of these vrequirements` are met bymeans of astructurre'all the parts of whichiare` susceptible of' ine'xpensve mass production and extremely' ready assemblability. The invention is here specificallywdisclosed as appliedto a .doll' leg, butit could alsoibe: appliedato7 a' doll' arm if and when desired.

The' doll= bo'dyrat the point' where' the' leg4 is to be attached thereto; is provided` With a narrow aperture, preferablyV surrounded` by a fiangev projecting: intoV the interior of thelbody'z, The `apertured portion'of the body, and! the.flange'if\ present-,1r are formed of resiliently stretchabl'ez, material. Theleg proper is of any appropriate Shape: andfat leastthe'upper end of the leg is formed of fiexible4 material to :which is imparted a shapev correspo-ndingztothat ofitheaperture in` thezbody. That portion of the leg shaped'` similarly to the aperture extends through thej aperturel beyond the inner surface of the body,y and. beyond' the inner surface of the fiange if present, and'is thereV provided with a laterally extending portionii which engages theinnerr surface of the body or bodyflange .and'thus-preventsl the ;leg from being 'detached onceit has beenfassembled with'the' body. Assemb'ly'is ac'complished'v by stretching; the apertured V'body portion, that portioirresilientlyv re'suming it's normal Shape' after thelaterally exten'dingfportion'`:of.V the V'leghas beenxpassed therethrough. That part of the leg immediately adjacent the'outer. ;surface1of the'zdoll body; beingfiexible, permits v thewleg to'articula'te relative'to the' body in an effective manner.

In' the. form here-specifically disclosed, in` order? to provide-agreater degree ofnsecurity of attachment the upper portion of the leg which is received within the ICC body aperture and. which is formed ofrthe same soft and flexible material as thev remainder of the leg is sur- 'rounded by a rigid bushing to which it is secured, the laterally` extending leg portion which engages the inner surface of the doll body or body flange being formed as an integral part of that rigid bushing. The bushing does not in any way detract fromthe appearance of the doll, because it does not project-outwardly beyond the-body aperture and consequently is not visible. In order to provide a still further degreeV of security of` attachment, a rigid washer may be interposedV between the laterally extending portion of the leg andthe inner surface of the doll body;

To the accomplishmentof the above, and to such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the present invention relates to a structure by means of which a 'dollilimb may he secured to adoll body, asl clefinedv in the appended claims and as describedtinlthis specification, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1- is a front elevational view of` thev lower portion of a dollbody, showing one' leg sub-assembly secured thereto and the other 'leg sub-assembly in position to ble secured thereto;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view` taken along the line 2-2 of Pig. l;

Fig. 3 is a 'crossseetional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view taken in the direction'of the arrows 4- 4 of Fig'. Z.

The doll body, generally designated 2', maybe formed in whole or in part of fleXible resi'lien't'material such as rubber or vinyl'plastic.: The bod-y may be hollow', its Walls being shaped and contoured, as in a m'olding opera'- tion; so as tol simulate the body of a child. The font part of the lower portion fof the bodyV 2, shown in Fg; 1, is` provided with a. fiattened` area 4'hav'ng ai pair of narrow elongated apertures 6 formed therein and extendingv from-the` outer to the inner surfaces thereof. It is preferred that these apertures b'e' surrounded, o'n the interior of the 'dollfbody,- by flanges 8`which may b'e molded integrally'withthe body when the body' is formed. It is important that at least the= body portions 6 andl 8, together With' a sur'rounding area of the body 2, be made of resilient-ly stretchable material, for aV reason which will become apparent'hereinafter inconnection with' the assembly of the limbto the body.

The doll legs, generally designated' 10-,- are also fornied in whole or-in' part of flexible material such' as rubber or Vinyl plastic shaped` and conto'ured; in a suitable molding operation or the like, to simulate a child`s leg. In order to imparta desired' degreeof firmness to the legs 10, the m'ain portions'thereof'may be stufe'd with any appropriate' soft'- material 1'2; The uppe'rmost porti'ons of the legs'10,'however, are not s'tuifed, and the leg is there collapsed so'that the walls `114i eXtend alongside one another toE define'a structure having a narrow elongated periphery the shape and size' of' which is similar to the shape and 'sizeof the aperture 6 in the doll body 2. A rigid' bushing g'enerally designated 16, which' may conveniently be 'formed by'molding an'y" suitable plastic material so as to produce arigid structure, has a m'ain portion 18"the outer di'mension'sof which correspond closely to'the dime'n'sions of `the'body apertures 6' andl the inner diinensions of which are-'such that the collapsed walls 14 of the leg- 10- m'ay beflreceived in the p'assage'way 28 therein, those walls being fixed to the main bushing portion 18-in any 'appropriate manner, as by meansofstaples 20 which pass through-the main bushingportion 18' and theileg walls 14. The/end of the bushing. 16 at the Auppermost endl of the leg 10 carries a laterally extendingv portion 22 the periphery of which eXtends outwardly well beyond the periphery of the body aperture 6.

In the form here specifically disclosed another element is employed, to wit, the washer 24, which has an elongated narrow aperture 26 within which the main porton 18 of the bushing 16 is received, the outer periphery of the washer 24 extending outwardly beyond the periphery of the body aperture 6 and the periphery of the laterally extending bushing porton 22.

In assembly, the main porton 18 of the bushing 16 is first passed through the aperture 26 in the washer 24, the latter being prevented from escaping from the bushing 16 because the laterally extending bushing porton 22 is larger than the washer opening 26. The collapsed upper end walls 14 of a doll leg 10 are then caused to enter the passageway 28 in the main bushing porton 18, the staples 20 are inserted, and the leg sub-assembly is completed. In this condition the washer 24 may move downwardly, but cannot escape from the leg sub-assembly because the main porton of the leg 10 is much larger than the washer opening 26.

When it is desired to secure the leg sub-assembly to the body, the appropriate aperture 6 in the doll body is stretched in any appropriate manner to a sufficient degree to permit the bushing 16, and the washer 24 if employed, to pass completely through the aperture 6 into the interior of the body 2, the laterally extending porton 22 on the leg 10, and the washer 24 if used, moving into the interior of the body 2 beyond the inner surface thereof, and beyond the inner surface of the flange 8 if present. The aperture 6 is then released, and because of the resilient nature of the material of which the body 2 is formed mmediately surrounding the aperture 6, that aperture will resume its normal size and shape. In so doing it Will contract inside the periphery of the laterally extending bushing porton 22 and of the washer 24 if employed. It will preferably frictionally grip the outer surface of the bushing portion 18. It will be noted from Fig. 2 that the length of the main bushing porton 18 is such that its outer end will not extend out beyond the outer surface of the body 2 adjacent the aperture 6, and preferably will be recessed somewhat within the aperture 6.

Any attempt to pull the leg 10 from the body 2 will be effectively resisted by the laterally extending porton 22 carried by the leg 10 and by the washer 24 if employed. These elements cannot pass through the unexpanded aperture 6, and therefore the leg 10 will not separate from the body 2. When the body 2 is provided with the flange 8, which may extend inwardly for an appreciable distance on the order of one-half inch, it Will be almost impossible to pull the leg 10 strongly enough to force the aperture 6 open unless the pull is so great as to exceed the strength of the materials -involved, in which case in all probability the leg 10 will rip before the securing arrangement fails.

As will be clear from Figs. l and 2, since that porton of the leg mmediately adjacent the outer surface of the body is formed of flexible material, the leg will be freely articulatable so that it may be manipulated by the user of the doll to permit the doll to assume either a prone position with the legs extended from the body or a sitting position in which the legs are at right angles to the body. The simplicity and inexpensiveness of the structure, together with the exceptional security of the limbbody attachment which it provides, make it an exceedingly effective and desirable structure.

While but a single embodiment of the present invention has been here disclosed, numerous specific variations may be made in the structure thereof, all within the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a doll body having a narrow limbreceiving aperture, said body being formed of resiliently 'stretchable material at least at the apertured porton thereof, and a doll limb formed at least at its upper end of flexible material, the upper end of said limb being flattened and comprising limb wall portions defining a given narrow peripheral shape substantially similar to the shape of said aperture, said aperture and said upper end of said limb being much narrower than said limb proper, said upper end of said limb, passing through said aperture into said body and having a laterally extending porton which engages the inner surface of said body so as to prevent separation of said limb from said body, said limb articulating about that porton of the flexible upper end thereof projecting beyond the outer surface of said body adjacent said aperture on a line substantially parallel to the length of said aperture, the flexible limb wall portions within said aperture being secured inside a substantially rigid bushing, said laterally extending porton which engages the inner surface of said body being a part of said rigid bushing.

2. In the combination of claim l, a substantially rigid washer received between said laterally extending porton and the inner surface of said body.

3. In combination, a doll body having a narrow limbreceiving aperture, said body being formed of resiliently stretchable material at least at the apertured porton thereof, and a doll limb formed at least at its upper end of flexible material, the upper end of said limb being flattened and comprising limb wall portions defining a given narrow peripheral shape substantially similar to the shape of said aperture, said aperture and said upper end of said limb being much narrower than said limb proper, said upper end of said limb passing through said aperture into said ,body and having a laterally extending porton which engages the inner surface of said body so as to prevent separation of said limb from said body, said limb articulating about that porton of the flexible upper end thereof projecting beyond the outer surface of said body adjacent said aperture on a line substantially parallel to the length of said aperture, said limb being formed substantially completely of flexible material, the body of said limb being stutfed but the upper end of said limb being unstuffed, the flexible limb wall portions within said aperture being secured inside a substantially rigid bushing, said bushing being positioned within said aperture and terminating short of the outer end of said aperture, said laterally extending porton which engages the inner surface of said body being a part of said rigid bushing.

4. In combination, a doll body having a narrow limbreceiving aperture surrounded on the inside of said doll by an inwardly extending flange, said body being formed of resiliently stretchable material at least at the apertured porton thereof, and a doll limb formed at least at its upper end of flexible material, the upper end of said limb being flattened and comprising limb wall portions defining a given narrow peripheral shape substantially similar to the Shape of said aperture, said aperture and said upper end of said limb being much narrower than said limb proper, said upper end of said limb passing through said aperture into said body to a point beyond said flange and having a laterally extending porton which engages the inner surfaces of said body flange so as to prevent separation of said limb from said body, said limb articulating about that porton of the flexible upper end thereof projecting beyond the outer surface of said body adjacent said aperture on a line substantially parallel to the length of said aperture, the flexible limb wall portions within said aperture being secured inside a substantially rigid bushing, said bushing being positioned within said aperture 'and terminating short of the outer end of said aperture, said laterally extending porton engaging the inner surface of said body being a part of said rigid bushing.

5. In the combination of claim 4, a substantially rigid washer received between said laterally extending porton and the inner surface of said body flange.

6. In combination, a doll body having a narrow limbreceiving aperture surrounded on the inside of said doll by an inwardly extending flange, said body being formed of resiliently stretchable material at least at the apertured portion thereof, and a doll limb forrned at least in its upper end of fiexible material, the upper end of said limb being flattened 'and comprising limb wall portions defining a given narrow peripheral Shape substantially similar to the Shape of said aperture, said aperture and said upper end of said limb being much narrower than said limb proper, said upper end of said limb passing through said aperture into said body to a point beyond said flange and having a laterally extending portion which engages the inner surfaces of said body fiange so as to prevent separation of said limb from said body, said limb articulating about that portion of the fiexible upper end thereof projecting beyond the outer surface of said body adjacent said aperture on a line substantially parallel to the length of said aperture, said limb being formed substantially completely of flexible material, the body of said limb being stuffed but the upper end of said limb 6 being unstulfed, the flexible limb wall portions within said aperture being secured inside a substantially rigid bushing, said bushing being positioned Within said aperture and terminating short of the outer end of said aperture, said laterally eXtending portion which engages the inner surface of said body being a part of said rigid bushing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 898,018 Steilf Sept. 8, 1908 1,044,162 Gleason Nov. 12, 1912 1,892,278 Kallus Dec. 27, 1932 1,897,914 Schaeffer Feb. 14, 1933 2,098,925 Schaeffer Nov. 9, 1937 2,118,682 Nagel May 24, 1938 2,l60,739 Hugus et al May 30, 1939 2,271,711 Pallett Feb. 3, 1942 2,663,971 Ippolito Dec. 29, 1953 

